Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport
Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport (B.R.H.I.A) is a vital facility that plays a major
role in linking Lebanon with the outside world and enriches
the business and touristic sectors of the economy. Therefore,
it's development will bring about a substantial increase
in the number of tourists, particularly businessmen
as well as attracting major airline companies and increasing
transit traffic.
The positive impact of this development on the
Lebanese economy will also be marking on both - short
and long run. The competitiveness and efficiency of
the local industries will increase in order to better
serve the tourists and businessmen. RHIAB is located in
the Khaldeh suburb south of the capital and around 8kms
distant from Beirut downtown. It was opened in 1954
and is the only civil airport in the country. The old
airport was renovated in 1977, and the present runways
were rehabilitated between 1982 and 1984. The Israeli
invasion of 1982 caused considerable damage to most
sections of the old terminal building.
The execution of the first phase of the new airport
started in 1994 and was inaugurated in 1998. However,
the second phase was inaugurated on the fifth of July
2000 and the operation started on the sixth of
June 2002. The total area covered by RHIAB is around
7 million square meters and the overall area of the
terminal building is 150000 square meters. RHIAB has been
redeveloped to handle 6 million passengers per year
and to receive 30 aircrafts at the same time. It has
84 passenger counters, 21 passenger gates, and the parking
area has a capacity of 2250 cars. Future development
plans aim at handling 16 million passengers by the year
2035
RHIAB View from the airfield
Airport Rehabilitation
and Development Project
This ambitious project includes the
construction of new buildings and the rehabilitation
of old areas, as detailed below:
- The new terminal building
- The new fire fighting building
- The Cargo Facility
- The new power plant
- The Chiller plant
- Maintenance and warehouses building
- The ground services building
- The Civil Aviation Safety Center
- The Civil Aviation technical school
- The Radar building
- The new General Aviation building
- The Fuel Farm
- The Parking Facility
- Two new runways
Other projects include the VIP building, building
for customs, Freight Forwarders.
The terminal
building:
In June 2000 the phase 2 was completed and the
overall area of the terminal building is 150000
square meters. The terminal building consists
of 4 levels:
The lower
level:
The total area of
the lower level is 30000 square meters and contains
mainly utilities and warehouses. It includes the
surveillance, electrical, and telecommunication
equipment, MEA offices and stores.
The ground floor:
The total area of the ground floor is 55000 square
meters and includes the following:
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Construction works - Phase2
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The arrivals hall: The total area of this hall
is 40000 square meters and includes the following:
- Offices and Counters for general Security
- Offices and counters for customs
- 200 square meters shopping area and duty free zone
- Bank
- Five conveyor belts,
The meeter and greeter hall: This hall is of
a total area of 6000 square meters and is composed of:
- Car rental agencies' offices and counters
- Counters and offices for tourist services and hotels
- Health office
- Lost and found offices
- Shopping area
- Cafeteria
The airline companies' offices on the aprons:
The total area of the offices is 6000 square meters
and includes the offices of the ground handling companies,
civil aviation, and the security offices.
The luggage arrival
The total area of the luggage arrival is 6400 square
meters
The first floor:
- The total area of the first floor
is 5500 square meters and includes the following:
- The head office of the airport
bank
- The ticket selling counters
- Shopping area
- The post office
- The custom office
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The departures hall: The area
of the hall's area is 15000 square meters and includes
:
- The luggage control
- The Customs counters (8)
- The Airline counters (84 in total)
- The General security counters (22)
- Bank counter
- VAT claim counter
- Insurance counter
- Luggage surveillance equipment(6)
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The airline companies' offices
(60 in total)
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The duty free zone : The area
of the duty free zone is 6000 square meters and
includes diverse shopping facilities, a cafeteria
and a transit restaurant.
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The departure lounges: Cover
a total area of 10000 square meters
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The gates: 21 gates in total.
The second floor
with a total area of 30000 square meters
host mainly the offices of the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation
- The offices of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
- The Airport security offices
- The Airline offices
- The healthoffice
- The office of the Ministry of information
- 4 VIPlounges
- 3 Business lounges
- 2 Restaurants
The third floor
The total area
is 10000 square meters and it hosts the tower
and the technical services of the civil aviation.
This includes the air navigation, the communication,
and the maintenance department.
The presidential
lounge
The total area of the presidential building is
4000 square meters and includes :
Presidential lounges
Press lounges and offices
Information lounges and offices
The VIP Building
The total area of the VIP building is 1650 square meters. It consists of:
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs office
- Diplomatic lounge
- Business lounges
- Information offices
- Civil aviation office
- Airport Security office
- Cafeteria
The new fire
fighting building
The total area of the fire fighting building is
2000 square meters and is equipped with 6 modern
fire fighting vehicules.
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Fire Fighting Building |
The Cargo Facility
Building
The total area of the building is 10000 square meters
and spreads on three levels. It is the center for incoming
and outgoing air cargo. It contains offices for airlines,
customs, security and warehouses.
Chiller
plant and power generation plant
The total area of the building
is 5400 square meters and includes 9 generator
sets and 3 chillers with their respective
control panels.
The maintenance and warehouses building
The total area of the maintenance and warehouse building
is 3400 square meters.
The ground services building
The total area is of 13800 square meters. It consists
of three levels:
It is used as maintenance garages for the airline transportation
equipment , and rest area for airport personnel
Civil Aviation Safety Center
Situated on an area of 5500 square meters.
Civil Aviation Technical School
The total area of the technical school is 2000 square
meters. The Center is equipped with the latest training
equipment. It is in the process of being re-activated
.
Radar Building
The total area of the Radar building is 600 square meters
and it hosts the radar equipment.
General Aviation Facility
The total assigned area is 72000 square meteres. It
includes one common general aviation terminal with parking
and maintenance areas.
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The Fuel Farm
Occupy 100000 square meters surface.
Parking
Facility
The first phase has been inaugurated on march
1999 with a capacity of 1250 cars. However, the
operation of the total project begins early 2001
at a capacity of 2350 cars, with 9 entrances and
9 exits.
The
two new runways
- The eastern runway: (21/3)
Total length 3800 meters, and of a width of
60 meters.
- The maritime runway: (35/17)
Total length 3400 meters (1900 meters within
the sea) and of a width of 60 meters.
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